#azimuth 206

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Any Excuse to Visit Lassen Volcanic National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southwest while taking in views across an open area through some nearby evergreen pine trees with a view beyond to Cinder Cone. This was while hiking along the namesake trail in Lassen Volcanic National Park. What I loved about this setting and captured image was the layers present. There was the foreground interest with the open of the volcanic sand and small rocks, interspace with the evergreen trees. And then seemingly rising out off in the distance was the mountain peak of Cinder Cone, all with blue skies as a backdrop.

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A Panoramic Setting with a Road Ahead Leading to Santiago Peak by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: At a roadside pullout on US Hwy 385 with a view looking to the southwest just outside of Marathon, Texas, on a drive to Big Bend National Park. My thinking in composing this image was to use the centerline and road ahead as a leading line into the image with Santiago Peak as a focal point and distant destination. I used the swiveled out LCD screen and LiveView on my Nikon SLR camera to line up the image. I could then just touch that screen to focus and meter the image captured. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 4 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.

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On the Road Again with Baby Yoda by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: This was more of a fun type image to capture and obviously not to license, given the figure present :-) My thinking in composing this image was to take advantage of this long stretch of road present outside of Marathon, Texas, and have Baby Yoda in the center of the road. That road would be the leading line into the image with Santiago Peak off in the distance. I used the swiveled out LCD screen with LiveView to center up and align the image as well as picking a focus point on the figure.

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Raven in Flight Over Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While at a roadside pullout along Utah Scenic Byway 12 at the Calf Creek Viewpoint in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

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Any Excuse to Visit Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While at a roadside pullout along Utah Scenic Byway 12 with a view looking to the southwest across the high desert of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. My thinking in composing this image was to take advantage of the nearby foreground to create a layered look with some nearby canyons and eroded gullies leading up to more distant colorful slickrock. I felt including some shrubbery and small trees helped to add to that look of the American West in the image captured.

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Getting Myself to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument! by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southwest while taking in views across canyons, gullies and colorful slickrock from a roadside pullout along Utah Scenic Byway 12. This is in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. I decided to take advantage of some nearby shrubbery and old trees present to create a look beyond. I also closed down on the aperture so that more of the entire image would be in focus.

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A Scenic Byway Along the Chimney Rock Trail (Capitol Reef National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view of Chimney Rock while along the namesake trail in Capitol Reef National Park. This is looking to the south while standing along the cliff edge.

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Fresh Ideas for Travel in Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking the Tolleston Dunes Trail and a view looking to the southwest down and then across a forested dunes area in this part of the national park. From this high ground I was walking, I was able to capture a more sweeping view with the grasses and trees, some of which were only then coming into bloom for spring. For post-production, I then decided to once again try out the sky replacement setting in Photoshop with this image. The blue sky colors with clouds definitely seemed appropriate for this national park setting in what I had wanted to experience in person. So the skies are part of the Adobe stock images in Photoshop but all else is captured with my Nikon D850 SLR camera. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 4 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.